Obsequium

Ron was extremely anxious.

His jaw was clenched tightly the whole way to the station. He didn’t even have the energy to scowl that morning when the twins ordered him around, laughing with carefree smiles as he went into a hiccupping fit with all the orders.

He sat, squished against the window, in the family car with his school bag on his lap. He’d packed Bill’s copy of Hogwarts a History as well as a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. Maggie and Richard had given it to him as a gift to keep himself busy with when he’d told them of the long train-ride he was taking to get to school.

The book was second hand but in good condition and when he’d cracked it open there was a letter from Maggie on the front page that said-

Dearest Ronnie, I hope you have a brilliant year and I’m counting the days until summer when I can see you again. You always have a job with us, but even if you don’t want to spend your summer working then I hope you remember you always have a place with us too.

We love you, study hard, Doctor Ron!

Love, Mags and Rich

Tears had poured down his cheeks for nearly an hour after reading it and even thinking about it choked him up.

It wasn’t Ron’s first time getting onto the station so he was hardly surprised when he was left to get onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters alone. He pushed his trolley in front of him, grateful that it was only his trunk so it wasn’t that heavy at all.

He set his shoulders and made to run through the platform, not noticing that his book had fallen out of his bag. He took off, ready to pass through the barrier that stood between him and his future, but his body came to a sudden and complete stop when he heard,

“Hey, stop-”

His body seemed to turn into a solid rock and the sudden stop of momentum caused him to trip over his own feet, sending him sprawling. He heard someone curse and then there was a tan hand held in front of his face.

“Sorry,” Ron looked up, following the hand up an arm to find a man looking down at him with concern on his face. “You dropped your book, I’m sorry for startling you.”

Ron swallowed.

“Can I help you up?” he asked and Ron shook his head to clear the cobwebs, shyly accepting the hand and letting the man hoist him up.

“Hogwarts?” The man whispered slyly and Ron’s brows furrowed a bit. How had he guessed?

The man chuckled at his expression and gestured to Ron’s trunk.

“Only wizards use those kinds of trunks these days, it’s pretty obvious to another wizard.” He said with a charming smile. He was holding Ron’s copy of To Kill a Mockingbird.

“Oh,” Ron murmured. “Thank you for, um,” he wasn’t quite sure. “Well, thank you, I would have been devastated to lose my book.”

The man gave it to him with a pleasant smile.

“No problem. I’m just sorry you stumbled, why don’t you go on through.” he suggested and Ron nodded with a tight smile, tucking the book back in his bag. It was then that he noticed there were others behind the man, obviously waiting to go through as well.

One of them was a boy around Ron’s age and he was watching with a pleasant, curious expression and pushing a trolley with a similar looking trunk to Ron’s.

Ron gave him an awkward nod in greeting before pushing his trolley through the portal that led to the platform. He hurried out of the way so the next people didn’t bump into him and tried to look for his family.

No matter how hard he looked he couldn’t spot them anywhere.

No way. Had they seriously just … left?

Ron’s heart ached as he searched the platform, being forced to conclude that his parents and Ginny had indeed left without bothering to say goodbye to him.

Ron dragged his trunk to the train and stood in line to get his trunk put on the train by the conductor. When it was his turn the conductor barked at him,

“Toss it up then!”

Ron’s eyes widened a bit as his arm obeyed without his consent. He gripped his trunk and tossed it up with one arm. The conductor caught it with a grunt.

“What’s the matter with you!” He snarled. “Kids these days! No respect!”

“I’m so sorry!” He cried. “I- I have no idea what just came over me!”

The conductor just shook his head, chucking Ron’s trunk into the train none too gently and sending him a nasty look- as if daring him to complain.

Ron winced and sidled away, trying to ignore the snickers from those behind him. His shoulder was killing him after tossing his damn trunk with one freaking arm. He twisted it a bit, holding it securely to stop it from aching so terribly.

Ron boarded the train and prayed he’d be able to find an empty compartment but it was looking less and less likely and he cursed himself for wasting so much time looking for his family.

He’d have to sit with someone else. Ron tried to push down his anxiety and poked his head into the emptiest looking compartment. The only one inside was the boy that had been with the man who had stopped him to pick up his book.

“C-can I sit here? Everywhere is really full.” Ron said shyly and the boy looked up and nodded eagerly.

“Sure, no problem!” He said easily. “You’re the one from before, right? The one my uncle stopped?”

Ron nodded, entering the compartment and taking a seat opposite the boy.

“I’m Ron,” Ron introduced himself. “Ron Weasley.”

The boy smiled at him a little awkwardly.

“Harry. Harry Black.”

Ron’s smile faded slightly. This was … the Boy-Who-Lived, or as Ron thought of as the Boy-Like-Him. A boy who had lost something on Halloween sixteen years ago.

Harry looked even more awkward at Ron’s reaction and Ron flushed.

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to look weird, it was just unexpected.” Ron admitted and Harry looked relieved.

“It’s no big deal, I’m just- just ordinary. Just Harry.” Harry insisted and Ron smiled a little nervously. Harry was a lot more shy than Ron had expected of the famous savior of the wizarding world.

The train rumbled to life barely five minutes later and Harry pulled a box out of his bag.

“Want to play a game?” He asked, gesturing the box around and Ron realized that it was a chess board.

“Sure, I love chess,” he said honestly. “My older brother taught me to play when I was younger.”

“Cool, how many siblings do you have?” Harry asked, eagerly setting up the game on the table in front of them. 

“I have five older brothers and one younger sister,” Ron replied dryly and Harry looked up, brows reaching his hair. “Yeah, I’m the sixth boy in the family so there’s a bit of a joke that my parents kept trying until they got a girl.”

It wasn’t exactly a joke to Ron but it did make Harry grin. Ron was pretty good at chess and there was only one moment when, during their second game, Harry saw where his hand was headed to and groaned,

“No, don’t move that one!”

Ron hiccupped slightly, hand abruptly changing course and moving a pawn he hadn’t meant to move and he froze. Harry frowned.

“Er…” Harry looked at him confusedly. “I didn’t mean it?”

Ron forced a chuckle out of his lips.

“I meant to move that pawn,” he said, false confidence filling him. “I was just teasing.”

Harry’s expression cleared and he rolled his eyes.

“I bet you have a strategy, my uncle is exactly the same.” He complained, moving his knight. “He’s the Defense professor, he taught me to play chess.”

“Your parents are both teachers, aren’t they?” Ron asked, not fully sure. “I think my brothers mentioned them, I’m the only new Weasley going to school this year, all my brothers have already been here for a few years.”

“My mum is the Muggle Studies professor, my uncle James is the Defense professor and my dad isn’t a professor but he does live at the castle so he’s around and sometimes he helps Uncle James with his classes.” Harry confirmed. Ron hummed, moving a piece on the board and getting closer to a checkmate despite his earlier blunder.

When the snack trolley came around Harry stood up to buy a bunch of snacks and Ron pulled out a few sickles and bought a chocolate frog and a packet of every flavor beans. 

They ended up sharing their snacks either way and Ron genuinely liked Harry. He had great manners, which was a strange little way around Ron’s curse, or maybe Harry just didn’t make demands of people in general. Either way, Ron liked it.

They were interrupted some time later when a girl opened their compartment door and came inside without invitation. 

Her face was round and pretty, and her hair was a bit wild but tamed in a messy French plait down her back. She looked at them both with a face mixed with curiosity and shyness.

“Have either of you seen a toad?” She asked. “A boy named Neville has lost one.”

“Neville lost his toad again?” Harry sighed. “Poor guy, he just can’t keep hold of Trevor!”

“Oh you know him?” The girl asked surprisedly.

“He’s my godbrother,” Harry said. “We basically grew up together. His toad is always running away but he always finds his way back to Neville so I wouldn’t worry too much.”

The girl’s nose crinkled slightly.

“Yes, well, if you see it let us know, alright?” she requested. “We’re in compartment 104.”

Harry nodded and the girl left. Barely a second later she stuck her head back in, cheeks pink.

“I’m Hermione Granger, by the way,” she introduced. “Sorry I didn’t ask your names.”

“I’m Harry, this is Ron,” Harry introduced them both and Hermione smiled shyly.

“Pleasure,” she said genuinely. “Well, see you later then!”

She ducked back out and Ron released a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. Harry pretty easily went back to their conversation about Quidditch and Ron settled back into his seat as well but it wasn’t a full hour later when they were interrupted again and this time wasn’t nearly as pleasant.

The pointy faced boy who entered their compartment this time was immediately recognizable as a Malfoy. This was Heir Draco Malfoy, Ron was sure. The only son of the Malfoy family.

“Heir Black.” Malfoy said with a superior smirk lining his face. Harry’s jaw was clenched slightly.

“Heir Malfoy,” He greeted politely. 

Malfoy’s eyes flickered over to Ron and he looked him up and down before scoffing under his breath and turning back to Harry, completely dismissing Ron.

Harry couldn’t have known that Ron preferred this because the boy glared fiercely and snapped,

“Was there something you needed, Draco?”

Malfoy smirked.

“Not at all, Harry,” he replied affably. “Just thought I’d offer you a place in a better acquainted compartment.”

Harry barely contained his eye roll.

“Thank you, but I’m quite content here.” He replied simply.

Ron looked between the two Heirs of Pureblood Houses a bit bemusedly.

“Come off it, Potter, you could do so much better,” Malfoy gave a dry side look at Ron, who pressed his lips together a bit.

Harry gave up on his politeness and said coldly, “I think I can tell what’s better for myself, thanks.”

Malfoy sniffled haughtily.

“Suit yourself.” He sneered, turning on his heel and leaving with the compartment door slamming slightly behind him.

Harry released a frustrated noise.

“Stupid ponce, he’s so annoying and he thinks he walks on clouds above everyone else!” Harry insulted. “Don’t listen to him at all, Ron, I don’t care about connections and neither does my family.”

“I daresay you’re well connected enough for us both, Harry,” Ron replied dryly and Harry grinned.

“Yep, and nowhere in my connections is Draco Malfoy going to be involved,” he shuddered. “His father gives me the willies.”

Ron snorted slightly and Harry nudged him with a blush.

They weren’t interrupted again and when the conductor’s voice gave them a ten minute warning they turned their backs to each other and closed the blinds to get changed into their blank school robes.

Ron felt comforted wearing Bill’s old robes. It felt like his favorite brother was there with him and it was what he needed to get through the day.

So far the ride with Harry had been amazing. He had only struggled once or twice with a command and he’d managed to play it off fairly easily and without making his new friend suspicious.

When the train came to a stop, they followed the flow of first-year students off the side of the train to where a gargantuan man was calling for them.

“That’s Hagrid,” Harry told him over the blustering rain. “He’s the groundskeeper!”

Ron nodded but he was sure Harry couldn’t even see it through the rain. They got on dinghy little boats to get across the Great Lake and while he’d known about the boats, he wasn’t a huge fan of the rain making the trip way more treacherous. Both he and Harry had to grip onto each other to make it safely to the castle and they were laughing through the rain once they made it to the steps of the castle.

Inside, there was a tall and imposing witch waiting and once they were all huddled on the staircase, she waved her wand over them all, sending a warm and blustering wind to dry their hair and clothes in one fell swoop.

“Good evening,” Her voice was just as intimidating as her visual. “I am Professor McGonagall, Transfiguration professor and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

She looked over all of them, pausing momentarily on Ron before moving onwards. Ron frowned slightly at the brief pause.

Why had she paused on him? Of all people? Perhaps he’d mis-seen it and she’d actually paused on Harry. That made more sense.

“In a moment I will lead you through those doors where you will be sorted into your Houses. There are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slytherin.” She said calmly. “For the next seven years your house will be like your family. Good behavior will be rewarded with House Points while bad behavior will see you punished, with House Points removed.”

She waved over to four tall hourglasses that were all empty save for a single gem in each glass, their colors representing the four houses.

“At the end of the year the points will be counted and that House will win the privilege of the House Cup.” She explained the system for those that didn’t know.

“I will return shortly, so you may take a moment to … smarten up.” she said, giving Hermione Granger’s even messier hair a judgmental look before leaving the group of students alone.

Granger immediately started trying to flatten her hair, which had fallen out of its braid, looking quite stressed. Ron felt bad for her but he wasn’t about to talk to her and put himself in the spotlight.

Fortunately Harry was far better than him and offered to do a charm to tame her hair. She looked at him distrustfully.

“You’re a first year too, how do you know magic?” She asked and Harry looked awkward. Behind them Malfoy scoffed.

“I grew up around magic.” Harry said patiently. “My mum used to use this charm on me all the time.”

Hermione inclined her head, giving him permission and Harry cleared his throat, casting confidently,

“Capillus teres.”

Hermione’s hair immediately smoothened out, falling neatly around her shoulders in soft looking waves and she looked thrilled.

“Amazing!” she cried. “Thanks, Harry!”

Whispers of Harry’s name erupted and Ron’s new friend turned a bit pink, mumbling something before wilting back against Ron’s side. Hermione looked around, expression confused, and Ron had thought she was muggleborn but her reaction to Harry proved it further.

Thankfully McGonagall returned before anyone, mainly Malfoy, could say or start anything.

“We’re ready for you.” She said simply.

Ron swallowed tightly and took his first steps into the Great Hall. It was bustling with students and Ron could hardly focus on anything once he caught sight of the wondrous display of magic charming the ceiling to look like the night’s sky.

Bill’s margin notes ran through his mind.

-The sky was charmed when Dumbledore became Headmaster, Ron, it’s incredible how much magic went into it. I tried to replicate it for my Arithmancy Exam but I couldn’t manage it. Do me a solid and figure it out for me, eh?-

Ron silently vowed to do that. He would replicate that sky if he could and put it into a jar so that Bill could carry it with him anywhere he went. 

He realized, a bit embarrassed, that he’d missed McGonagall’s explanation about the sorting and, to his confusion, he was faced with a singing hat.

“Why is that hat singing?” he whispered to Harry under his breath and his friend gave him a puzzled look.

“Didn’t you hear her say the Hat was going to sort us?” he asked and Ron blushed, pointing up at the roof.

“I was looking at the enchanted ceiling,” he admitted. “It was my brother’s favorite thing, so I’ve been waiting to see it for ages.”

Harry smiled, looking touched.

“It’s pretty impressive,” He allowed. “Anyway, the hat is magic, obviously, she’s gonna put it on our heads and we’ll be sorted.”

Ron hummed, paying attention as the hat finished its song to applause. The first student, Abbot, Hannah, went to Hufflepuff.

Harry would be sorted way before Ron and sure enough it wasn’t long at all until McGonagall called, 

“Black, Harry.”

Harry’s breath hitched slightly and he walked up the dais in the deathly silent room. Everyone was watching with anticipation and Ron felt bad for the boy, who was a lot shyer than Ron had expected of the boy savior.

Harry was seated for exactly three minutes before the hat called out,

“Gryffindor!”

Ron flinched slightly at the applause from the Gryffindor table. His brothers were doing a strange Irish jig and chanting,

“We got Black, we got Black!” Harry was beaming as he took his seat and Ron noticed vaguely that three professors were standing up to applaud.

Not professors, he realized, this was Harry’s family. There was Professor Potter, the one who had picked up his book for him.

Ron wondered sort of abstractly how it must feel to have someone be that proud of you. For him there was only Bill, and the Donoghues, but mostly only Bill.

As the sorting progressed, Ron turned his attention back to the ceiling, making sure to keep an ear out for his own name.

He’d have to study Arithmancy in advance. Fortunately he had Bill’s book with him as well as his ancient runes book. He’d taken them with him in case he had free time to work on the ceiling.

When the names reached closer to the W’s, Ron turned his attention fully to his surroundings and just in time, as McGonagall called,

“Weasley, Ronald.”

Ron swallowed and made his walk up the dais. He could see the professors watching him and his skin prickled slightly. The Headmaster’s eyes were twinkling slightly and when they briefly made eye-contact the Headmaster offered him a smile.

Ron turned to face the students, sitting down and thanking Merlin silently that the hat blocked out his vision, plunging him into darkness.

What do we have here … my oh my…

Ron flinched. He could hear a titter go through the crowd and he flushed under the hat at the laughter from the twins.

That’s quite a curse … it’s rare that I sort one like you …

Ron worried his lip anxiously. He wasn’t just anxious about his sorting now, what if this hat told someone who would use his curse against him?

I cannot tell anyone anything outside of sorting, dear boy … your secret is safe with me …

Relief coursed through his body along with gratitude.

But where to put you … you’re dreadfully brave, and quite smart to boot … you’d do well no matter where you go …

Ron licked his lip, feeling a bit parched. He was sure his sorting was officially longer than Harry’s and he wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Big ambitions … protective and loyal … so brave … I know just what to do with you …

Ron held his breath, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Gryffindor!”

His shoulders slumped slightly and he allowed gratitude to fill him once more for the hat. The hat vibrated slightly on his head and Ron thought he felt a flicker of surprise and pleasure that didn’t belong to him before the hat was removed from his head.

He stood up to the moderate applause and hurried to a beaming Harry’s side. Harry clapped his shoulder proudly.

“We’re both Gryffindor, how great is that?” He said happily and Ron gave him a wan smile. He didn’t quite like the look in his twin brother’s eyes, a mixture of mischief and mean spiritedness that he was well acquainted with.

With the end of the sorting, the feast popped up and Ron followed Harry’s example of dishing up from the feat. He selected mashed potatoes, gravy, roast and chicken and after a moment he took a small bowl of salad.

“Pass the chicken, Ron!” Fred said slyly and Ron’s hand jerked to grab the bowl of chicken and he passed it to Fred a bit too fast.

Harry blinked, surprised and Ron turned red and glared at Fred fiercely, pushing the bowl a bit too hard against his hands.

“Stop it,” He said to his brother coolly. Fred just smirked and reached out to ruffle Ron’s hair.

“So good, little brother,” he cooed. “Congrats on making Gryffindor.”

Ron shivered slightly. Fred’s words could be construed as pleasant but to Ron it sounded like a threat.

Ron just smiled tightly at Harry’s bemused expression. Fortunately the twins didn’t try anything further and Ron was able to meet the rest of the Gryffindor first years. 

Hermione Granger had ended up in Gryffindor too, and she was seated in front of Ron and Harry, eating a balanced looking meal and talking eagerly with Percy, who seemed glad to answer academic questions with an important puff to his chest.

Ron was glad when the feast ended. It had been a long day and he was still trying to conceal his bad mood from the twins’ behavior so he was pretty exhausted. 

Harry ended up telling him about Dumbledore’s speech, which he was embarrassed to realize he’d also missed, and so he heard all about the forbidden corridor on the third-floor. Ron was not the curious type and he resolved to stay far away from that business.

Ron remembered Bill’s fond descriptions of Gryffindor tower as they entered through a portrait of a well endowed woman. He admired the common room, which was exactly as Bill had described, and said goodnight to Hermione and the other girls before following Harry and the other first year boys up to the boy’s dormitories.

The room was circular and quite large. There was a fireplace in the middle and five king sized beds arranged in a circle around it. There was enough space for a wardrobe, and a desk next to each bed and their trunks were sitting on their assigned beds already.

“Damn, I’m beat, I don’t know about you guys but I’m going straight to bed.” Dean Thomas said, looking quite tired.

“Oh same,” Harry said, throwing himself on the bed. “You guys are lucky, I can’t be late or unrested tomorrow morning. My mum will string me by my briefs if I am.”

Ron laughed along with the others and Harry just grinned.

There was a bit of scramble as they tried to figure out the bathroom and who got to shower first. Ron had wanted to shower but Seamus said, with a pout,

“Let me shower first, Ron!”

And Ron swallowed his hiccup, obedience causing his tongue to move without consent,

“Go ahead.”

“Thanks mate!” Seamus cheered, pushing past him. There were three shower stalls and both Dean and Harry were already showering.

This left him and Neville waiting their turn patiently.

“Find your toad alright?” Ron asked the boy, remembering he was the one who had lost it. Neville groaned.

“Yeah,” he held up a warty lump. “Trevor’s always running away but he finds his way back eventually.”

Ron nodded a bit awkwardly. With nothing better to do, he opened his trunk and took out his pajamas as well as his stack of stationary, which he placed on his desk.

He took a seat and pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment, dipping his quill into the inkwell and beginning to write.

Dear Bill,

I made it to Hogwarts in one piece. You wouldn’t believe how anxious I was all day but I made it through, and with no one the wiser.

I was sorted into Gryffindor, big surprise. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, I’m really happy to be in Gryffindor and see the places you loved and told me about. I was really taken with the enchanted sky. It’s as beautiful as you said, Bill, and I desperately want to carve a piece of it out and give it to you. When I accomplish that, please carry it around and think of me fondly.

I miss you terribly.

I made a friend. Harry Black. He’s really nice, and well mannered so he’s only triggered me once or twice and I’ve been able to talk myself out of it. All the boys in my year are nice, a bit loud and I can tell one of them is going to trigger me a lot, but I think he means well, he just doesn’t have a filter.

Fred triggered it at the dinner table with his stupid chicken joke. I couldn’t really enjoy the feast after that but overall it was fine.

I think it’s going to be fine, but let me not jinx it.

Please be safe, give my love to your friends, and please don’t forget about me. I love you, Bill, more than anything.

Your brother,

Ron

With his letter written, he slipped it into an envelope and dribbled a bit of wax on it. 

“Sending a letter so soon?” Harry asked, fresh out of the shower. “To your parents?”

Ron shook his head.

“No, I wanted to write to my oldest brother, Bill. He works in Egypt so the post takes a while to get to him. I’m gonna post it first thing tomorrow morning with one of the school owls.” Ron explained.

“You could use my owl, Hedwig, I don’t have anyone to write to since all my family are here,” he laughed. “She’d like the exercise.”

“That would be great, Harry,” Ron said with a smile.

Ron took a quick shower, changing into his pajamas and climbing into the warm bed. It was the most comfortable bed he’d ever been in in his life and he really understood what Bill had meant by sleeping his best when he was at Hogwarts.

The moment he put his head against the pillow he was out cold.